loyal address to the King was presently agreed upon, and another
to the two Houses of Parliament. Letters were sent to Sir Thomas Temple,
to Lord Manchester, Lord Say and Seal, and to other persons of note,
praying them to intercede in behalf of the colony. A most gracious
answer was given to the address by the King's letter, dated February 15,
1660 (1661, new style), which was the first public act or order
concerning them after the restoration. (Hutchinson's History of
Massachusetts Bay, Vol. I., pp. 210, 211.)]

[Footnote 115: Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts Bay, Vol. I., pp.
211, 212.]

[Footnote 116: Holmes' Annals of America, Vol. I., p. 318. Hutchinson,
Vol. I., p. 216. Hazard, Vol. II., pp. 593-595. The address is a
curiosity in its way, and a strange medley which I must leave the reader
to characterize in view of the facts involved. The following are the
principal passages of it:

Extracts from the Massachusetts General Court--Address to the King,
dated 19th December, 1660:

"To the High and Mighty Prince, Charles the Second, by the grace of God,
King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith.

"Most gracious and dread Sovereign:

"May it please your Majesty--In the day wherein you happily say you know
you are King over your British Israel, to cast a favourable eye upon
your poore Mephiboseth now, and by reason of lameness in respect of
distance, not until now appearing in your presence, we mean upon New
England, kneeling with the rest of your subjects before your Majesty as
her restored King. We forget not our ineptness as to those approaches;
we at present owne such impotence as renders us unable to excuse our
impotency of speaking unto our Lord the King; yet contemplating such a
King, who hath also seen adversity, that he knoweth the hearts of
exiles, who himself hath been an exile, the aspect of Majesty
extraordinarily influenced animateth exanimated outcasts, yet outcasts
as we hope for the truth, to make this address unto our Prince, hoping
to find grace in your sight. We present this script, the transcript of
our loyall hearts, wherein we crave leave to supplicate your Majesty for
your gracious protection of us in the continuance both of our civill and
religious liberties (according to the grantees known, and of suing for
the patent) conferred on this Plantation by your royal father. This,
viz., our libertie to walk in the faith of the gospell, was the cause of
our transpor